Great potential exists here for Alice Springs to make the …

Great potential exists here for Alice Springs to make the most of the opportunities of the next 3 or 4 years (and hopefully longer).
So many planning and consultation processes in their early stages and now is the time to speak up on some key priorities for our town… let’s hold our elected leaders accountable to the promises, targets and plans that are out there.
Re the abudance of planning and strategy documents, talking about population growth and the targets we can sustainably aspire to in the future seems like a sensible starting point.

Edan Baxter Also Commented

Master plan could turn around population and economic slumpThe Planning Commission has the 32k (short-term) and 40k (longer term) targets.
Based on these figures (only recently released) perhaps the way forward here it to request an update from the NT Government on some of their signature policy documents (i.e. the Economic Development Framework) established much earlier in the year?
I’m sure the NTG would welcome the opportunity to reiterate all the great things that are planned for our region … but it also gives Alice an opportunity to ensure the next three years are on track for our town.
One example I would encourage Alice residents and policy watchers to stay across is international education. It is an $80m+ export industry for the NT.
At this stage (until I read or hear otherwise) we have no clear allocation for the significant investment spend in this huge growth industry.
Darwin by contrast has a target for for 10k international students by 2022 and a whole heap of CBD infrastructure planned.

Master plan could turn around population and economic slumpThanks for that link, Kieran. Some interesting reading there.
Over the last week or so I have been trying to get through all of the planning documents and strategies out there … and have been making population a focus.
I will keep the Alice Springs News Online updated but one early finding is that very few planning documents, agencies or strategies etc make reference to any sort of rationale such as “based on our future population target for Alice Springs of (x), we are going to implement (y) and prepare with infrastructure (z)”.

Recent Comments by Edan Baxter

The gallery drama: Will there be a happy ending?Let’s all stay focused on the most important thing here: We need to get this right.
This was never a $50m project. Indeed, only the small-minded would cap the potential of this project at $400m.
This is an investment in the Northern Territory’s next century and will come to be a nation-defining statement about the future of our great island home.
The Northern Territory Government is to be commended for kicking things off with a [$50m starting] commitment to an art gallery in Alice Springs. And it is important to keep in mind there is a further $20m committed to an Alice Springs-based cultural centre.
That’s $70m to work with! Without mentioning the CBD revitalisation project (was it $10m?).
Oh, and then there is theoretically another $25m+ available in order to ensure Rugby League are content with a potential move.
So that’s now $95m in the mix that the NT Government has committed to the future of Alice Springs!
Again, let’s all stay focused on the most important thing here: We need to get this right!

Minister to join juvenile crime community groupI have attended numerous town meetings over the last decade. Congratulations Wayne Thompson for not allowing this meeting to degenerate into a shemozzle of frustrated voices who are promised short-term results and then, as happens too often, see nothing happen.
For the sake of the young people who are the future of this town, let us hope the focus of this group can be on developing a steady rollout of community-supported initiatives that result in positive systemic and social change.

Cr Melky saves ratepayers $100,000+To clarify this report, I am not “setting up a second group”.
It is my hope that ideas and initiatives that arise out of this meeting are published in an open forum for further discussion and development.
I did indeed get the contact details of various contributors that attended Saturday’s meeting. I will be seeking to work these people and contribute to and support the broader base of options that emerge over coming weeks.
Central Australians are sick of the simple and divisive political point scoring (and simplistic sloganeering) that pertain to youth affairs and the myriad of related issues.
Let us focus on working together for the long-term betterment of our town and region.